A photo revealed by the woman displayed a severely damaged phablet, with the phone showing signs of an explosion on the left side, the back unrecognizably melted, and the screen yellowed and partially burned black. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – The first allegations of a Galaxy Note 7 catching on fire came on August 24 in a post on Ppomppu, an online community largely frequented by smartphone users for tips and feedback.
The victim said in a post that her “boyfriend’s Galaxy Note 7 exploded while it was charging,” and that the “sound of the explosion and a burning smell woke her up in the middle of the night.”
A photo revealed by the woman displayed a severely damaged phablet, with the phone showing signs of an explosion on the left side, the back unrecognizably melted, and the screen yellowed and partially burned black.
Luckily nobody was hurt by the apparent explosion, and Samsung Electronics released a statement saying that it would investigate the issue.
Less than a week later, however, another claim was made, with this one coming on KakaoStory, a social networking services platform, on August 30.
Although the post has now been deleted, the uploader said that “there was another explosion of a Galaxy Note 7,” that belonged to a friend. The accuser said that the friend is in talks with Samsung over potential compensation, and advised phablet users to stay away from their phones while they’re charging.
The photo submitted by the uploader showed a Samsung smartphone in a similar state as the one revealed on August 24, with its display yellowed and the left side of the phone showing signs of an explosion.
Reacting to the claims about the Galaxy Note, which has been met with unprecedented popularity and acclaim, certain netizens showed concern, while some remained skeptical.
“It apparently has a serious flaw, I’m going to wait it out for a bit before I decide to buy one,” said an online community user.
“This could’ve been fabricated. I’m starting to wonder what actually happened,” said another netizen.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics has yet to release an official statement regarding the second alleged explosion, but according to an unnamed official, the company is “in the middle of investigating the accurate cause of the incidents.”
By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
